Dear Editor,

First and foremost, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to those who have respected our privacy during our time of bereavement. We would also like to thank you for your condolences and heartfelt prayers for our family. We especially thank the protesters and civil rights activists who continue to fight for justice for all mankind and to be a voice for those who’ve died senseless deaths. This is an open letter from the children and immediate family of Ananias Shaw to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) and the Selma Police Department.

We lost our father, Ananias Shaw, at the hands of the Selma Police Department. We strongly believe his death was needless, unprovoked and unjustified. We have sought clarification of the circumstances surrounding his death, and have been met with resistance and what seems like an attempt to whitewash the events of this tragedy. The lack of communication regarding our father’s death was the first blow, of many, we have gotten at the hands of the ABI and Selma Police Department.

They failed to notify us of our loved one’s death on Dec. 4, 2013, prior to releasing his name to the public.

They did not respond to our requests for information. We had to confirm Ananias’s death through direct contact with officials in charge of the investigation.

Despite what Chief William Riley stated to the media in December 2014, “We want the family to see it first. It’s only fair.” that did not happen.

We were told by Selma’s city officials, through our attorney, we would have to sue the city to obtain the information we requested.

We were strung along from Dec. 4, 2013 until over a year after our father’s death and only recently, Jan. 3, 2015, was video coverage of the incident released, and even then, through another media vehicle and not directly to the family as initially requested.

We were denied our father’s death certificate for several months and the initial response we received when we inquired was that it was “lost in the mail.”

Further, and quite strangely, a lien was placed on our parents’ home with an order to seize the property after their home was burned down without any police investigation, and our mother had to pay to have the debris removed. There are so many unanswered questions that surround the death of our father, and we are concerned that he was targeted. We don’t know why Selma police have refused to release the officer’s name and other material evidence, and we now suspect the unnamed officer had a lot more to do with our father’s death than what is on the surface.

We are confident that somebody knows the officer in question and are hopeful that a video exists with the incident in its entirety and that it will be made available to our family. Sadly, the police department and a few others have vilified our father and we reject any portrayal of our father that speaks to him as anything other than what he was — a loving, generous and witty person who was the son of 11 children born to the late Rev. and Mr. & Mrs. Julius Shaw, married 47 years; a father to six children and a wonderful grandfather and great-grandfather to the little ones who had just begun to know him. He was loved dearly by family members and friends who adored his life, his stories and his laughter. Unfortunately, however, our father also had a mental health disability, as do so many others in our country. He suffered from major depression and at times was distraught. However, he was able to think clearly and interact peacefully with people throughout his life.

Ananias was not a violent person. During the incident in question, his back was turned, as in other instances when he encountered officers. He walked away to avoid any confrontation, despite the fact a gun was pointed at the back of his head. Yes, he used profanity towards the officer, but is this why he deserved to die? Yes, he refused to obey the officer’s commands, but is this why he deserved to die? Yes, he had previously disturbed the peace and left the scene, but is this why he deserved to die? Yes, he asked them to stop harassing him, but is this why he deserved to die? And, yes he suffered with a mental health disability, and is this why he deserved to die? When do we start to hold our first responders accountable for how they handle people, especially those with mental illness? When will our society properly respond to the needs of those diagnosed with mental health issues? When will we get that incarceration is not the proper response? Our father was punished repeatedly by the judicial system each time he was incarcerated for a misdemeanor charge, and no treatment was ever rendered or recommended.

Why wasn’t any standardized protocol implemented by the officers on the scene during the encounters with our father? Why wasn’t there a joint intervention with the family to provide the best care in the event his condition seemed to worsen?

We often wonder what he was thinking. Was he frightened for his life? Was he aware there was a chance he would never see his family again? According to District Attorney Michael Jackson, “The officer only had one choice…” We do not believe that. We do not believe there were any real attempts to deescalate the situation. Instead, our father, a distraught, elderly, mentally-impaired black man, was provoked, harassed, charged and murdered.

To our outcries, Chief Riley indicated, “We’re no Ferguson…” We agree. This is a different situation, but not a better situation and no less important. There is work to be done. We have to push for more to provide a better society for all to live in and better protocol from law enforcement. We ask the communities within the state of Alabama to make a difference for all people — ethnic, non-ethnic, mentally ill, everyone. We seek justice for all. We would like the next 50 years to fulfill the dreams of our predecessors.

We want the sacrifices they made for us to not have been made in vain. And, more importantly, we want justice for our father, Ananias Shaw. “No Justice, No Peace.”

— Velma, Andrew, Marvin, Valerie, Randall and Jerrold Shaw